Rishi Sunak is favourite to be next Tory leader as Boris Johnson’s ratings plummet

Rishi Sunak should be the next leader of the Conservative party, according to a survey carried out by the Conservative Home website.

The Chancellor is the preferred choice to replace Johnson according to the poll, while another survey commissioned by the site shows the PM’s net favourability has dropped considerably in recent months.

At a glance: 5 key points

– A survey of Conservative party members found that Rishi Sunak is the most popular choice to replace Boris Johnson followed by international trade secretary Liz Truss and MP for Portsmouth North, Penny Mordaunt

– Sunak holds a comfortable lead in first place on 31 per cent, while Truss (12 per cent) and Mordaunt (11 per cent) both fare better than many senior cabinet members and former leadership hopefuls, including Dominic Raab (8 per cent), Sajid Javid (7 per cent) and Michael Gove (4 per cent)

– This comes as another survey of members shows that Liz Truss has the highest net satisfaction rating of any Conservative minister, at +88.6, followed closely by the chancellor (+74.1) and Dominic Raab (71.3)

– Conservative members are regularly polled by Conservative Home on their view of cabinet members, and Boris Johnson’s net rating has dropped by 35 points in a month, down to just +3.4

– Members had the most negative view of Education secretary Gavin Williamson (-44.1), party chair Amanda Milling (-14.3) and housing secretary Robert Jenrick (+1.3)

What’s been said?

Speaking after his conference speech last October, Sunak was asked whether he would like to become PM after Boris Johnson.

He said: “God, no. Definitely not seeing what the Prime Minister has to deal with.

“This is a job hard enough for me to do”

Asked the same question the following month during an interview with LadBible, the Chancellor said: “Definitely not.”

“I have enough of a struggle just trying to do the job that I had and keep my head above the water, quite frankly.”